Women's March 2018 as it happened: Hundreds of thousands join nationwide protests against Trump

Marches are happening all over the world, including this one in Zurich, Switzerland (EPA)

Hundreds of thousands of women around America and the world took to the streets for the 2018 Women's March, a year after the first such event was held in opposition to newly elected US President Donald Trump.

Demonstrators surged into the streets in protests in American cities across the country, with parallel rallies in Europe, Asia and Africa turning the event into a global affair. Authorities estimated that well over 100,000 people attended the New York rally and that some 300,000 showed up in Los Angeles.

And while the inaugural 2017 marches functioned as a primal cry against Mr Trump's election victory, the 2018 iteration served in part as a nationwide political rally. Democratic elected officials and liberal celebrities urged attendees to channel their energy and frustration with Mr Trump's policies into November's midterm elections, where Democrats hope to wrest back control of Congress, governorships and state legislatures.

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After last year's event, a wave of women decided to run for elected office and the #MeToo movement against sexual misconduct became a cultural phenomenon.

“We made a lot of noise,” said Elaine Wynn, an organiser. “But now how do we translate that noise into something concrete or fulfilling?”

Speakers this year made reference to the rolling backlash against sexual harassment and assault, with New Jersey first lady Tammy Murphy relaying her experience with sexual violence and encouraging other women to tell their stories.

The marches occurred amid the battle over a US government shutdown, which has disrupted Mr Trump's celebrations of the anniversary of his inauguration. Protesters and supportive politicians linked the two, decrying Republican policies that helped lead to the shutdown — particularly Mr Trump's decision to nix an Obama-era program shielding young immigrants from deportation — and urging attendees to vote for a different agenda in the fall.

Linda Sarsour, one of the four organisers of last year's Washington march, told the Associated Press that Las Vegas was set to hold a major rally on Sunday because it's a strategic swing state that gave Hillary Clinton a narrow win in the presidential election and will have one of the most competitive Senate races in 2018.

Democrats believe they have a good chance of winning the seat held by embattled Republican Senator Dean Heller and weakening the Republicans' hold on the chamber, where they have a 51-49 seat advantage.

Organisers say Nevada is also a microcosm of larger national issues such as immigration and gun control after Las Vegas became the scene of the deadliest mass shooting in modern history.

Agencies contributed to this report

Key Points

• Marches take place amid a US government shutdown
• New marches are part of a campaign to help Democrats re-take control of Congress and eventually impeach President Donald Trump
• Millions were involved in the global protests last year

[20 January 2018 16:15 · Kristin Hugo]

  ↵Celebrities will be a big feature of the march in Los Angeles later, but some are already tweeting their support, including actor and activist Alyssa Milano - a vocal Trump critic.

She is referencing the Trump administration's ending of the so-called 'Dreamers' programme, official name Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) created under Barack Obama that offers protections for illegal immigrants brought to the US as children.

Arguments over the need to offer status for those left in limbo by the phasing out of the programme was one of the major stumbling blocks that led to the US government shutdown.

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[20 January 2018 16:16 · Kristin Hugo]

Organisers of a New York City rally and march for women's rights say tens of thousands of people will take to the streets.

The scheduled speakers include Ashley Bennett, a Democrat who was elected Atlantic County, New Jersey, freeholder last November. Ms Bennett defeated Republican incumbent John Carman, who had mocked the 2017 women's march in Washington, DC with a Facebook post asking whether the women would be home in time to cook dinner. 

[20 January 2018 16:22 · Kristin Hugo]

Protesters have gathered in front of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC, homemade signs includes phrases like "run like a girl" and "Empowered women empower women"

[20 January 2018 16:27 · Kristin Hugo]

Crowds are starting to gather in front of the kick-off stage for the Los Angeles March. The programme will officially begin in an hour.

[20 January 2018 16:34 · Kristin Hugo]

Philadelphia has seen big crowds turn up for the Women's March in that city.

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[20 January 2018 16:44 · Kristin Hugo]

Some pictures from the Women's March in Rome. There are a number of events planned across Europe over the weekend

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[20 January 2018 16:48 · Kristin Hugo]

Anti-Trump protesters descended on the new site of the United States embassy in London on Saturday afternoon, declaring the US president a "racist bigot" and calling for Theresa May to cancel her meeting with him at the World Economic Forum in Davos next week.

In a demonstration held to mark the first anniversary of Mr Trump's inauguration as US president, around 20 activists from the campaign group Stand up to Racism pushed over a mock wall they had built in front of the embassy's recently opened site in Vauxhall, south London.

[20 January 2018 17:05 · Kristin Hugo]

Women flocked to Washington, DC as lawmakers there try to strike a deal to restart the shuttered government. At least one senator was prevented from attending her local march:

[20 January 2018 17:21 · Kristin Hugo]

Speaking of politicians, many of them are using the platform of the women's march to push particular policy agendas. Here New York Gov Andrew Cuomo talks about an issue likely to resonate with many attendees:

[20 January 2018 17:48 · Kristin Hugo]

Similarly, here is a Connecticut Democrat calling the Women's March part of a "prolonged battle for a progressive agenda" and working in a reference to overarching activism opposed to Donald Trump: "I am woman, I resist".